The present application relates to a microscope control device, an image management server, an image processing method, a program, and an image management system.
In recent years, a technique has been considered in which an image of a sample which is observed using a microscope is digitalized, and the digitalized image of the sample can be displayed on a display device for observation (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-63658).
If the digitalized images of the sample can be temporarily stored in a server existing on a network, and the stored images can be inspected via the server, it is possible to promote advancements in so-called telepathology where a doctor in a remote location performs a pathological diagnosis using the network.
In such a digital microscope system, in order to read captured images via the server, a procedure is performed in which the microscope is controlled so as to obtain (photograph) a signal from a CCD or a CMOS sensor as digital data, the obtained image data is processed and compressed to data such as JPEG, and the data is uploaded to the server. A person who wants to inspect microscope images operates a terminal (hereinafter, referred to as a viewer) for inspecting the microscope images so as to access the server, and obtains microscope images which are desired to be inspected.